Hi,
My brother sent me 2 tapes from Europe to the USA. they are PAL tape and I have a NTSC Sony PC9.
I can see the tapes on the camera, but I can not see them on TV nor I can capture them on the computer using Firwire.


Anyone has some tips on how to capture the video through Firewire ?

THANKS!!!

1- What video editing and audio software do you have?

2- Hopefully, you can do the following:
A- Capture the footage. In your video editing software, choose a PAL preset. Hopefully this is possible.
B- Convert the footage to NTSC. There's two ways:
2a- Convert the footage to "film" (25fps --> 24 frames per second) and then pitch shift the audio to compensate. You may need to de-interlace first. This changes the speed of your footage.
2b- Do a proper PAL --> NTSC conversion. The software for this can get quite expensive if you want good quality... Final Cut with Nattress' conversion plug-in might be your cheapest bet for good quality.
http://www.nattress.com/

Sorry I haven't tried the above to verify if it works.

Well I don't have any experience with the PC9 or PAL tapes, but a similar topic has come up more than once regarding other Sony camcorders. Evidently they will play PAL tapes and display them on the LCD screen, but this is actually an undocumented/unsupported feature. They won't send usable data a across firewire or to a video monitor. Your experience seems to confirm this as well.

I suspect that the only way you're going to to be able to get them into the computer will be to rent a PAL camcorder or deck. Then of course you would need to convert the PAL to NTSC as Glenn describes. DVFilm Atlantis is another product that does this http://www.dvfilm.com/atlantis/index.htm

Thanks,
I used Windows Movie Maker 2.1
but when I try to capture the image is all blurry on the computer screen. I guess I am out of luck...

I guess if I capture it with blurry image I won't be able to get it right with the software.

Christian

I have not yet seen a camera that would allow you to capture
a PAL tape in an NTSC camera (or vice versa). Your best bet is
to get an DV deck (or rent one), those should support both
standards.

Otherwise your brother could perhaps capture it for you and send
a harddisk or data DVD's to you? If you both have highspeed
internet connections (without any monthly limits) you could also
transfer the footage in that way.